Grizzly Killer: The Medicine Wheel

by Lane R Warenski

  Lizzy was surprised when Butterfly spoke to her in heavily accented English saying, “It’s nice meet you.”

  Then Zach spoke telling Butterfly and White Feather that he had just taken Lizzy from a group of murdering white men. That she had been though a terrible ordeal for the last few months. She needed to be cleaned up and given something to wear.

  White Feather stepped forward immediately reaching out for her while Butterfly said to her in English, “Come follow us.”

  She had a worried expression as she looked up at Zach not wanting to leave his side. He smiled at her and said, “Go with them they will help you and you are completely safe in this village.”

  She reached out and took the hand of White Feather. As they went through the crowd several of the children asked if they could touch her hair. When Butterfly told her what they were asking she stopped and knelt down and smiled while at least a dozen children touched her golden hair. They ran away giggling surprised that it felt just like their own.

  Zach turned to Charging Bull and said, “My chief, I have news of a group of white men that I have killed in the land of the Shoshone. I would like to sit at a council fire and tell of my journey here.”

  Charging Bull knew the seriousness of Grizzly Killer’s statement from not only the words but the tone in his voice. He told Grizzly Killer he would call a council for that evening that he expected Spotted Elk and the hunting party to be back by then.

  White Feather led Lizzy into her teepee and Butterfly followed them in. She sat Yellow Moon down in her cradle board giving her a dried gourd rattle to play with. Lizzy just stood there not knowing what to do or what to expect. White Feather could see the fear and concern in her eyes and looked to Butterfly to help translate. As White Feather spoke Butterfly told Lizzy in broken but understandable English what she was saying, “You not need fear for we will help you. Grizzly Killer is greatest of warriors, friend to all the people. He husband of youngest daughter. He bring you here for help, it honor for all people to help him any way we can.” The soothing voice and motherly love of White Feather made Lizzy start to relax.

  They heated water and removed the overly large shirt and trousers Lizzy was wearing and used the shirt as a washing cloth. She was embarrassed at first as she stood there naked being washed by this much older Indian woman that she had only just met, but Butterfly took her mind off what was happening as she told Lizzy about herself. She told her the story of how Grizzly Killer had bought her, Sun Flower, and Raven Wing from the French trappers that had spent the winter in their village. How the Trappers had treated them so badly and how Grizzly Killer had bought the three women from the Frenchmen without ever seeing them before then.

  How she thought he just wanted to use them like the Frenchmen had so she ran away. Later when Grizzly Killer brought Sun Flower and Raven Wing to their village she found out he had bought them just to help them get away from the Frenchmen. She went on to tell how he had then married Sun Flower and his partner Running Wolf married Raven Wing and how happy they all were. As White Feather brought out a nearly white tanned doeskin dress, Butterfly continued telling Lizzy of how later on at Rendezvous the same Frenchmen had attacked her and Spotted Fawn and how Grizzly Killer’s great medicine dog had saved her by attacking the Frenchmen. She told her that Grizzly Killer was one of the greatest warriors to ever walk the earth and the medicine dog could read his thoughts and would do anything Grizzly Killer ask.

  As Lizzy put on the beautifully decorated dress they heard a very loud commotion out in the village. They stepped out of the teepee and as Lizzy looked up there was a very fierce looking warrior standing right in front of her.

  5 Missing Hunters

  Lizzy jumped back, nearly knocking Butterfly over and as Spotted Elk reached out to help his wife Lizzy screamed and Spotted Elk jumped back as well. Everyone around started to laugh but the fear Lizzy felt was real and she stepped back into the teepee and started to cry. White Feather was smiling as she told her son to go away and stop scaring their guest.

  He just stood there though and Butterfly brought their daughter to him and he smiled as he looked into the dark brown eyes of his smiling baby girl. White Feather sat Lizzy down by the small fire and with a fine comb made from the shoulder blade of deer she combed through Lizzy’s long blond hair. As Lizzy relaxed the tears stopped and she apologized for acting so foolish.

  Then she heard Zach’s voice and she stood staring toward the lodge opening. White Feather smiled and led her through the lodge opening out into the much brighter day light. She stopped at the opening and looked up surprised to see two other white men standing beside Zach. Everyone around was staring at her but the look on these two white strangers was one of disbelief. Zach smiled and said, “Whoa, Lizzy you look good.”

  She blushed and a smile spread across her pretty face. Zach continued, “I’d like ya to meet some friends of mine. This hear is Abner and Sean Finnegan, brothers that come out here last year ta be trappers.”

  Abner reached up and removed his wolf skin cap releasing a mass of dirty red hair saying, in his deep Irish accent, “Very nice to meet ye miss.” Sean just stood there staring at her, his mouth was open and he still had a look of total disbelief on his face. Abner grabbed the hat off his brother’s head and said, “Where’s ye manners boy?”

  At that Sean said, “Sorry miss, I just wasn’t expectin’ ta see a white woman out here, an’ especially one so purty and with all that golden hair.” She blushed all the more and smiled at the compliments.

  Spotted Elk was still holding Yellow Moon as Zach reached out and put his hand on Spotted Elk’s shoulder saying, “I guess you already met my brother-in-law, Spotted Elk.” She blushed even more now looking up at this fierce, wild looking warrior as he lovingly held his infant daughter.

  He smiled at her and said, “We welcome you to our village.” As Zach told her what he had said she smiled again and thanked them all.

  Spotted Elk motioned to Zach saying, “Grizzly Killer, Charging Bull says we will have a council fire soon.” Zach nodded and looking at Lizzy and then at Butterfly he told her to stay with Butterfly until the council was over, Butterfly nodded and smiled.

  As Zach turned and started back toward where the council fire was being prepared by several young men, Butterfly told Lizzy they would watch the council with the rest of the village. Abner followed along behind Zach and Spotted Elk but Sean just stood there and watched Lizzy walk away. When he realized he was standing there by himself he jogged after the others to catch up. As he reached the others Abner looked at Zach and said, “Me thinks me little brother is smitten.”

  Zach just smiled and said, “She’s had a mighty rough time over the last couple of months, maybe a good man is what she’ll need, but it might take some time ‘fore she realizes that.”

  Abner had a confused look and Zach told him, “You’ll understand after the council.”

  Charging Bull was sitting at the head of the inner circle on a large buffalo hide robe. Next to him was Spotted Elk, then Bear Heart, Otter, and three of the other village elders. As the circle came back around the fire to Charging Bull there was the grizzly robe set down for Grizzly Killer to take his place next to the chief. All of the younger braves, as well as Abner and Sean Finnegan stood in the outer circle behind the chief, Grizzly Killer and the elders. The rest of the village was standing back behind them.

  Charging Bull started out, short and to the point, “Our brother, Grizzly Killer, has asked for this council, so we will hear the words he has to speak after we smoke the pipe.” At that Charging Bull’s young wife, Morning Song, came forward bringing his pipe rolled in a nearly white tanned piece of deer skin and as she unrolled the highly decorated pipe everyone around the fire could see the artistry of the charging buffalo that had been painted on the pipes cover. It matched the scene of the much larger one painted on the side of the chief’s lodge.

  He ceremoniously took the pipe filled it with wild Indian tobacco, then Morning Song
picked up a small burning coal from the edge of the fire with two small forked sticks and set it on the bowl of the pipe while Charging Bull puffed life into the pipe. As he puffed the smoke into the air in front of him, he moved the pipe up and down then in a circle through the puff of smoke giving homage to the sky above and earth below then the four cardinal directions. He then passed the pipe to his right where Spotted Elk sat, he too passed it to his right until the pipe had made it around the inner circle.

  When Zach had smoked the pipe he reverently handed it back to Charging Bull and watched as Charging Bull cleaned the bowl and rolled the pipe back into its decorated deer skin wrap. After Charging Bull handed the pipe back to Morning Song to be put away the chief simply said, “We will now hear the words Grizzly Killer has to speak.”

  Zach thanked the chief then started telling of his trip to their village. “Five suns ago, I left my home in the Uintah Mountains to bring word to Bear Heart and White Feather that Raven Wing and Shining Star will soon give birth. I traveled north staying west of the Seeds-Kee-Dee to stay off the trails along the river. On the second day of my journey I saw a column of black smoke reaching for the sky over a ridge and went to investigate.”

  Lizzy was standing next to Butterfly who was doing her best to translate what Grizzly Killer was saying into English but she was missing much of it, everyone else in the village was concentrating on the words being spoken by their white brother.

  Zach continued, telling of finding Henry Clayson and his party slaughtered and scalped and how one had been skinned alive. He told them how one of the men lived just long enough to tell him it was white men that had done this to them. He continued telling them of him catching up to these bad men and killing them- all but one. Their leader was a man called Skinner he had kept him alive after he overheard them talking about taking some Indian women a while back. He intended to bring him to the Shoshone for justice.

  He told of finding Lizzy with them, of how they had killed her husband and taken her, that when she had the chance she had killed Skinner with her own hands. A murmur went through the village and many of the people nodded and looked upon Lizzy with new-found respect. He told them that the many packs of supplies and furs he had brought with them rightly belonged to the rest of Henry’s men and asked the chief if he or anyone knew where they could be found.

  Spotted Elk spoke then, “Henry was a good friend to our people, it saddens my heart to hear he is no longer with us. Jacob is leading the rest of his men up on the headwaters of the Little Popo Agie. We will send braves at first light to find them and bring them here. He gave all of the horses and supplies taken from Skinners party to Charging Bull for Henry’s men. With the exception of their weapons, those along with the powder and lead he kept for himself. Weapons are mighty hard to come by in the wilderness.”

  Charging Bull then spoke, “It is a good thing to kill these bad men that entered our land, and once again Grizzly Killer has defended our land and brought justice to those who would do us harm.” Then he looked at Grizzly Killer and continued, “A hunting party of five braves and their women have been missing from the village of Broken Lance and the search parties have not been able to find them, do you know where these bad men came from?”

  “No but the woman I brought here was with them, she may be able to tell us.”

  Otter spoke then for the first time telling them that he has hunted the streams west of the Seeds-Kee-Dee many times and maybe he could help if Grizzly Killer will talk for him to the woman with hair the color of the sun.

  Grizzly Killer stood up and ask Lizzy to come forward. She had a worried look on her face and hesitated as she looked at him. Zach told her, “We just have some questions ‘bout where Skinner an’ his men were when they come upon those Injuns a couple weeks ago.”

  She just stood there staring at him, he could see the color draining from her face. He noticed her hands start to tremble and then she looked down at the ground. She never looked up and her voice was quivering as she spoke, “I couldn’t help those poor women, they were just like me. Skinner tied me up and then they rode right into their camp. It was so cold my hands and feet went numb from being tied. I couldn’t see what was happening, but I could hear the shooting and the screams.”

  Zach repeated what she had said to the Shoshone crowd. He then stepped forward, took her by the hand and led her over to where he had been sitting and had her sit on the grizzly robe next to him. He then asked her to continue.

  She told them she thought she was going die there too because it was so long before Skinner came back for her. Her hands and feet were so cold she couldn’t feel them anymore and when Skinner did come back and cut the ties off she couldn’t walk. She went on, “He dragged me though the snow down to the two teepees. The rest of the men were laughing, and dancing around. All of the Indian women were naked and I thought they were all dead but a couple of the women were still alive then. I watched Parker John drag one of them that was still alive but barely conscious over and kick her into the fire. She screamed and kicked but he just held his foot on her until she wasn’t moving anymore. Then Skinner dragged me into one of the teepees and we spent the night there. I could hear them taking the last Indian woman over and over again. I don’t know what they did with her but when we left the next morning she wasn’t with all the other dead bodies.”

  When Zach had finished translating what she had said for the Shoshone, he looked back at her and thought she had to be a mighty strong woman to stand up to what she had been through and seen. Then he told her that those people were a hunting party from the village of Broken Lance and they had family and friends out looking for them. He said, “We need you to try and tell us where you were when that happened.”

  She looked up at him and slowly shook her head and said, “I haven’t known where I was since we left home. I have no idea where I am now. I don’t know how to help you.”

  He asked her to try and remember any land marks, or to describe as best she could what the country looked like.

  Her face went blank and she got a far-off glaze in her eyes as she tried to remember the country they had traveled through. The village was perfectly silent; the only sound was the soft crackling of the fire. A distant wolf howled and Jimbo perked up his ears, then she slowly started to describe the land they had traveled through.

  As she spoke, Zach repeated everything she said to Otter. She had just told of going through a very steep rocky gorge and then a series of very large sage-covered flats right after they had left the Indian’s camp. Otter’s expression changed as she spoke and he held up his hand to stop her. He asked if there was a rocky peak behind the flats that the sun hides behind before allowing the darkness to come.

  She nodded her head saying, “Yes, I remember it getting very cold when the sun went behind it.”

  Otter looked at his Chief saying, “I know this place, I will ride to the village of Broken Lance when the sun rises and lead them to where they can take care of their dead.

  Charging Bull thanked Lizzy for her help and Zach told Otter where they could find the bodies of the white men that had killed Henry and his men as well as the Shoshone hunters and their women, in case Broken Lance and his people wanted to see that justice had been done. Otter nodded and gripped Grizzly Killer’s hand. Then two other braves stepped forward and told Otter they would like to ride with him and the warriors of Broken Lance, he glanced at Charging Bull as he nodded, saying, “It will not be a pleasant task, but it is a task we must do.”

  Lizzy still had a distant far off look and was just staring into the fire. Zach reached out and placed his hand on hers and it brought her back to the present. Looking at her he knew that this had been a real ordeal asking her to bring all these memories back. He continued to hold her hands as he told her, “We will stay in the lodge of Bear Heart and White Feather tonight.” She managed a slight smile in acknowledgement but never said a word.

  Everyone in the village was going back to their lodges except Sean F
innegan he was just standing there with is hat in hand still staring at Lizzy. Zach smiled to himself as Sean finally walked up and told her, “Ma’am if’n there is anything ye need, anything at all ye jest need to ask.” She still had that far-off dazed look but smiled at Sean and thanked him.

  Spotted Elk and his hunting party had been successful and soon the smell of roasting meat filled the village. Lizzy stayed right by Zach’s side as he spoke to Buffalo Heart and Red Hawk. He had known these two for several years now ever since he had helped save them from an Arapaho war party when they were in their early teens. They had been friends ever since. There were many coming to talk with Grizzly Killer and it became very clear to Lizzy that Zach was indeed a very special man, well liked and respected by everyone in the village.

  They ate outside the lodge, Spotted Elk and Butterfly were there and Lizzy picked up Yellow Moon and held her while Butterfly and White Feather served the pieces of roast antelope. This time of year with the food stores depleted from the long cold winter and being too early for any of the plants they depend on to have grown, their diet was solely meat. They ate all parts of the animal not letting anything go to waste. What they didn’t eat they used for tools or clothing, and they thanked the one above for putting the animals here for them to use.

  After they ate Abner and Sean come by and they talked about the fall and spring trapping season. Zach was surprised when Abner told him that he and Sean were going back to St. Louis in another week or two. That they had a farm and their other brother Liam had stayed back there to work the farm while he and Sean had come out here to try and make enough to pay off the farm and buy more land and stock to work it. They had just under two hundred plews and was told by other trappers they could get a lot more for them in St. Louis than they could at Rendezvous.